Alarm at Greens’ ‘Hamas symbols’ on Sydney council election material

Greens candidates in one of Sydney’s most populous Jewish areas are putting their names to pro-Palestine pledge cards adorned with images closely associated with Hamas’s military wing.

Subhi Awad, right, who runs We Vote for Palestine, has participated in numerous pro-Palestine protests. Picture: Liam Kidston

Local government Greens candidates in one of Sydney’s most populous Jewish areas are putting their names to pro-Palestine pledge cards adorned with inverted triangles closely associated with terror group Hamas’s military wing.

The organisation behind the material has been criticised by candidates, political leaders and security experts for its claim that the usage of red and white inverted triangles on campaign material was actually a “slice of watermelon”.

The material, which shows which candidates had signed up to its six pro-Palestine pledges, began circulating as next week’s NSW local government elections loom as the most divisive ever.

The Australian revealed in August how We Vote for Palestine was requesting candidates sign up to their six pledges, publishing rankings on their score.

Greens candidates in their droves have made the six-pronged pro-Palestine pledge, with their scorecards littered with the inverted triangle. Of the 80 candidates to so far pledge, almost half are Greens.

We Vote for Palestine founder Subhi Awad said on Friday it was an upside-down slice of watermelon, rejecting it had anything to do with Hamas. That claim was rubbished by security experts.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute's law enforcement and strategic policy head, John Coyne, said it appeared to clearly reference the inverted red triangle, warning against candidate’s using it. “The use, clever or not, of symbols associated with a listed terrorist organisation is not simply a political stunt,” he said.

The We Vote for Palestine pledge scorecards adorned with what appears to reference Hamas' inverted red triangle.

Many Greens candidates have signed up to the pledge.

“It is a divisive act that undermines Australian social cohesion and legitimises a known terrorist organisation.”

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said no aspiring politician should be associated with or using “such violent imagery”.

The triangle, used by pro-Palestine protests groups since October 7, has its roots in Hamas’s military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, to showcase which Israeli target it would seek to destroy. Its use was recently banned by the Berlin state parliament.

At least three Greens candidates in the Waverley Local Government Area have made the pledge. The LGA has one of Sydney’s highest Jewish populations.

The pledges include campaigning for a ceasefire and supporting refugees, but also “divestment from apartheid Israel”. Liberal Waverley candidate Will Nemesh said it showed the Greens were “clearly uninterested” in local issues.

Protesters graffitied Anthony Albanese’s electorate office in Sydney’s Marrickville with the inverted red triangle. Picture: Damian Shaw

“Instead, they want to cause community division and are happy to propagate Hamas ideology,” he said, adding that he was “perplexed” Labor had chosen to preference the Greens in the council area.

Bipartisan group Better Council has launched an “anti-Greens” campaign for the local poll, urging voters to “keep the party’s garbage out of council”.

Campaigner Sophie Calland said she was “concerned” with the Greens’ “priorities”.

“This only reinforces our campaign’s message that Greens councillors are too radical and disconnected from local priorities … like waste management, infrastructure and the environment,” she said.

The three Waverley candidates – Dominic Kanak, Ludovico Fabiano and Mora Main – didn’t provide comment.